Discription of the Christmas Carols

CHRISTMAS CAROLS "A" to "C"

Here is a collection of Christmas carols and season songs in basic text format for easy downloading. Click on a title to open the lyrics in a new window. From there you can print or save the file as you wish.

1. Adeste Fideles
   See notes for “O Come All Ye Faithful”.

2. All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth
   Music and lyrics by Donald Yetter Gardner. A novelty song composed in 1944 by a public school music teacher. When Gardner asked his primary school pupils what they wanted for Christmas, he couldn't help but notice all of the missing teeth in the class. In 1948 the song was recorded by Spike Jones which moved it to the top of the charts and made it a holiday staple.

3. All Through the Night
   Traditional music and lyrics.Welsh lullaby, “Ar hyd y nos”, of unknown origin. The references to Christmas in the latter English verses were probably not part of the original lullaby. The song is featured in the 1945 Bette Davis film, The Corn is Green , in which Welsh schoolchildren are being taught to read, write, and speak English.

4. Angels From the Realms of Glory
   Music by Henry Smart, lyrics by James Montgomery. An English hymn written in 1816. The lyrics can also be sung to the same melody as “Angels We Have Heard on High”.

5. Angels We Have Heard on High
   Traditional music and lyrics.An English hymn adapted by James Chadwick in 1862 from “Les Anges dans nos Campagnes”. The tune is commonly described as the “Gloria”.

6. As Lately We Watched
   Traditional music and lyrics. English translation of the Austrian hymn, “Die Hirten Auf Dem Felde”.

7. Auld Lang Syne
   Traditional music, lyrics by Robert Burns. An 18th century Scottish folk song and dance. Burns published it as an old song , but most scholars agree that he wrote the lyrics himself. It became the traditional song used to commemorate the New Year in Scotland and throughout Britain. In the US, its popularity is due in large part to Guy Lombardo, whose band played it at the stroke of midnight each year beginning in 1929. It is one of those songs that everyone loves to sing, but few actually know the words.

8. Ave Maria (La)
   Music by Johann Sebastian Bach/Charles Gounod, traditional lyrics. The traditional Catholic Latin prayer was set to music by Gounod in 1859, using the harmonies of Bach's Prelude No.1 in C Major. It is almost always performed as a solo or an instrumental.

9. Ave Maria (Ge)
   Music by Franz Schubert, lyrics by Sir Walter Scott. A song composed by Schubert for his 1825 “Liederzyklus vom Fräulein vom See”, using Adam Storck's German translation of Sir Walter Scott's poem, “Lady of the Lake”. The verses were written as the Lady's prayer to Mary. The song has also been translated into Latin, which often causes confusion with the traditional “Ave Maria” prayer (see above).

10. Away in a Manger
    Music by various musicians, traditional lyrics. The two-verse poem was first published in an 1885 Lutheran Sunday School book. James R. Murray set it to music and published it as Luther's Cradle Hymn , which created the confusion over the author. To this day it is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Martin Luther. William J. Kirkpatrick composed a second melody for the lyrics, and the two versions remain in common usage. The third stanza was added by John McFarland in 1904. “Away in a Manger” is typically the first Christmas carol that children learn in Sunday School.

11. Blue Christmas
    Music by Jay W. Johnson, lyrics by Billy Hayes. A country song recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1948 and by Elvis Presley in 1957. The song has been recorded by dozens of artists, but the Presley rendition is still the most recognized.

12. Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light
    Music by Johann Schop/J.S. Bach, lyrics by Johann Rist. Composed by Schop and Rist in 1641, harmonized by Bach in 1734, English translation by John Troutbeck around 1885.

13. Bring A Torch
    Traditional music and lyrics. A 16th century French folk song and dance, Un Flambeau , first published in 1553 in Cantiques de Premiere Advenement de Jesus-Christ and later translated into English. The story recounts how milkmaids went to the barn, stumbled upon the birth of Christ, and then rushed to spread the word. The song was originally just a court dance before it became a Christmas tradition.

14. Cantique de Noël (Fr)
    See notes for “O Holy Night”.

15. Carol of the Bells
    Music by Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych, lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky. Music composed in 1916 to portray a row of birds in springtime. Wilhousky changed the words and transformed the tune into a Christmas carol in 1936. The short phrases make it an easy mark for alternative lyrics as well.

16. Caroling, Caroling
    Music by Alfred Burt, lyrics by Wilha Hutson. Composed and recorded in 1954. Burt had spent many years composing Christmas songs with his father and later with organist Hutson, but it wasn't until after his death in 1954 that his compositions were recorded and gained popular interest. Nat King Cole's 1960 recording of “Caroling, Caroling” is probably most responsible for Burt's continued appeal.

17. Chestnuts Roasting
    See notes for “Christmas Song, The”.

18. Children Go Where I Send Thee
    Music and lyrics by Noel “Paul” Stookey. A Christmas spiritual written with Peter Yarrow, Mary Travers, and Robert DeCormier and performed and recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

19. Chipmunk Song, The
    Music and lyrics by Ross Bagdasarian. Created and recorded by Bagdasarian under the stage name of David Seville in 1958. Bagdasarian was a performer and audio engineer, who had gained some level of fame with his novelty song, “Witch Doctor”, earlier that year. He created “The Chipmunk Song” using his own voice for all four characters: Seville and the three Chipmunks. The recording earned Bagdasarian two Grammy awards in 1959. The popularity of the song, which has never waned since its release, led to the Chipmunks cartoons and movies, a tradition later carried on by his son, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.

20. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
    Music by Eddy Arnold, lyrics by Jenny Lou Carson. Composed in 1949 and recorded by Perry Como in 1953. It is a favorite for children's Christmas pageants.

21. Christmas Dinner
    Music and lyrics by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Composed and recorded around 1951. It has been released on various compilation albums, such as “Christmas on the Range”. A recent version was performed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for their 1997 “The Christmas Album”.

22. Christmas Song, The
    Music and lyrics by Mel Torme and Bob Wells. Written during a summer heat wave in 1944 when Torme was just 19 years old. The song was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946. Cole re-recorded the song with different arrangements several times, and the 1961 rendition with full orchestra is now considered the standard.

23. City Sidewalks
    See notes for “Silver Bells”.

24. Coventry Carol, The
    Traditional music and lyrics. A 16th century song originating from a play, performed in Coventry, England, about Herod's massacre of male children.